If they checked you for C diff, giardia and bacterial pathogens, and all negative then you could have developed lactose intolerance or wheat allergy.

Try a full month off milk and noncultured dairy (butter, whey, icecream, 1/2 and 1/2 creamer etc), if that works - try a whole year before you try going back.

If milk abstinence doesnt work, then you could have celiac disease which is allergy to wheat and wheat byproducts. Wheat byproducts are common additives to processed or packaged food, they are also used to make vitamins, prescription drugs, make up, lotions, etc. Any minor contact (even makeup or handling wheat flour on your counter top) can cause 1 month relapse of symptoms. People with celiac disease ussually have lactose intolerance too, so continue the milk abstinence while doing celiac diet.

Malabsorption disease from chronic diarrhea can cause micronutrient malnutrition. Chronic B12 deficiency can lead to peripheral neuropathy and dementia. Make sure your doctor is checking you for B12 and iron deficiency and vitamin D deficiency which can lead to many problems.

Oral vitamin suplements and even B12 shots or iron infusions may be neccessary to restore your good health

Other things can cause chronic diarrhea including, medications (protonix on omeprazole can cause diarrhea), tumors, endocrinopathies, inflammatory bowel disease, crohns disease, etc. If you have never seen a GI doctor, that should be next after the milk and wheat abstinence trials.

I feel for you. Doctors aren't necessarily clueless, its just that these symptoms could be caused by so many different things and many of them don't have clear tests. The diagnosis is often based on multiple tests, on symptoms and on the doctors instincts. The human body is very complex and there are just so many things that we don't know.

You probably don't want to hear my story because its not very fun, and you probably won't want to hear what I had to do to get better because it sucked.

I went on a prolonged extensive diet.

No sugar, wheat, dairy, red meat, corn, caffeine, or alcohol for 18 months. It sucked, but I was desperate and it helped a lot. I reintroduced all of those things very slowly and now don't have near the problems that I did. This was in my late 20s to early 30s. I am 53 now, so tests may be better. I don't know.

Chronic B12 deficiency can lead to peripheral neuropathy and dementia.

Doc BS, yes and all the B vitamins are needed for a healthy brain/nervous system.

It was B1 (Thiamine) deficiency (from long-term alcohol abuse, but one can also get Korsakoff's from beri beri, centipede bites in Japan from the mukade centipede) that caused my partner Jennie's Korsakoff's Syndrome.

Andrzej, as far as you are concerned, I wish I could be of better help/information.

I get candida in my throat, esophagus and the rest of my digestive system every time I take antibiotics. As a result, every time they're prescribed, I get 10 days worth of oral nystatin which you swish around in your mouth and slowly swallow. It works within 12 hours for me. I've never had trouble getting a prescription for it when I mention that I have this problem. Nystatin is harmless and candida infections are very common.

Good clues it might be candida are white spots on your tonsils or the back of your throat, intense itching in the canals between your throat and ears, burping yeasty smells etc. If you have had parasites or bacteria and/or candida, you can develop a temporary inability to digest dairy or gluten. If you lay off of them at the same time and don't eat much sugar or carbohydrates for a few days that helps. If you reintroduce them after the Nystatin and you do ok, that's a pretty good indication it was candida.

As one who has spent a lot of time in third world countries, I can definitely sympathize with digestive problems!

Gluten is worth giving up as a test for anyone with issues around the gut, weight, or digestion. When I quit wheat and gluten, I dropped 20+ pounds without exercise. (this has little to do it Candida but since it was discussed)

Candida is a fungus and so antibiotics will do nothing for it. The common medical test for it isn't very sensitive. Look for a doctor that specialized in "functional Medicine" and you'll get tested by more sensitive methods. Nystatin is a common medicine for it or you might be prescribed Diflucan if it's systemic. There are some herbal treatments as well if it's not severe and you'll be advised to keep carbs low and cut sugar.

+1 for no gluten. Cleared up my chronic gas problem too. Last time I ate gluten was just before (and during) the plane ride back from Greece... I'm surprised I wasn't arrested for detonating dirty bombs on the plane.

locker, it WAS a problem when I was little... as was fish, chicken, turkey, beans, etc. for me. Just that nobody knew it, despite several ER visits (chicken and fish), chronic constipation at 6 years old, and a list of other symptoms I didn't get rid of until I was enlightened in my late 20's by bvb's evil X.

In a world without mass produced/processed/subsidized food, we would listen to our bodies and figure out how they respond to the food we put in them. As it stands, we scarf down whatever the lobbyists succeed in getting subsidized (wheat, soy, corn, dairy, etc)... most of it genetically modified and/or processed beyond recognition.